From Christ to the Bourgeoisie

Deleuze published ‘Du Christ à la bourgeoisie’ in 1946 while he was still a student. This short essay appears to deal with the relationship between religion and the bourgeoisie. Surprisingly, however, on Deleuze’s reading Sartre can also be included in the bourgeoisie. The text criticises the way in which both Sartre and neo-Thomists like Jaques Maritain constructed 'interiority’ in opposition to 'exteriority’. Deleuze argues for a new, more immanent conception of interiority which is not predicated upon an opposition. This 'mystical’ conception calls for a re-evaluation of the political potential of Deleuze’s thought, or at least uncovers the political inspiration behind what has sometimes been intepreted as a purely metaphysical project.